In ancient rabbinic literature, the standard term for a “Jew” is “Israelite” (ישראל). The term Jew/Jews (יהודי/יהודים) is remarkably rare. In stark contrast, the ancient inscriptional record suggests that in normal, everyday usage... 🧵1/4

This is a distribution map I just prepared showing all sites where inscriptions that include the name “Israel” have been found, from any period in antiquity. Note: Sites in the Southern Levant are not included (they have their own map). It will appear in my forthcoming study on the topic... 🧵1/2

“When do you see some sign that there are people who are following the Torah?” Q&A session with Prof. Israel Finkelstein. The Getty Museum, November 17, 2022.

There is only one ancient Jew in the entire inscriptional record from antiquity who is ever called an “Israelite”. And that Jew’s name? Irene. A little girl from Rome who died before her fourth birthday. We have thousands of ancient inscriptions associated with Jews. Among them, the term... 🧵1/2

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗵 In his report about the Romans’ triumphal procession celebrating their victory over the Judean revolt, Josephus described how the Temple’s treasures and vessels were paraded through Rome. The last of the Temple’s spoils to be carried out... 🧵1/7

“Israel is destroyed!” Today I am working on the “Israel” phrase on the Merneptah Stele—a first for me. I developed a fascination with ancient Egypt as a child, and when I was still in elementary school, my mom took one of my brothers and me to Egypt for a weeklong tour. 🧵1/3

Is this the earliest inscription mentioning Jews? The image here is a facsimile of one of the wine list tablets found in excavations conducted between 1957 and 1963 at Fort Shalmaneser, a royal residence located at the Assyrian capital city of Calah. 🧵1/5

Today I have been reading this book while working on a study published in 1938 by the Nazi scholar Karl Georg Kuhn. The final chapter of the book, by A.H. Rosenfeld, is entitled “Is There an Anti-Jewish Bias in Today’s University?” Chillingly, his answer is “yes.” The book was published in 2022.

—𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗺?— ❦ 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄 ❦ Today is the 17th of Tammuz, marking (according to both Josephus and the Mishnah) the day when the daily Tamid sacrifice ceased to be offered due to the Roman siege and encroachment on the Temple in 70 CE. 🧵1/11

Yesterday, Joe Lauer reached out to let me know that he had read my newest article, “Reconsidering the Early Rabbinic ‘Miqweh,’” and that it reminded him of the last surviving Jewish ritual bath on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, built in 1941. In my article, I argued that... 🧵1/6

Reconsidering the Early Rabbinic “Miqweh” New, open-access article, hot off the press. Link👇

Note: The photo in my first post is of an Aramaic dedicatory inscription from the same synagogue, dating to around the same time as the halakhic inscription. From: Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae, vol. 5.2, pages 1970-1971. 4/4

The oldest textual witness to a Talmudic text remains unpublished. It was found written on plaster on the wall of the Tel Reḥov synagogue. Supposedly, it is identical to the same synagogue's famous mosaic inscription, but older. (The photo here is from elsewhere in the synagogue: see below). 🧵1/4

—New Open Access book, free for a limited time— 𝘼𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙧𝙤𝙣 𝘼𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙙: 𝙀𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙮, 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 By Prof. Lidar Sapir-Hen (Tel Aviv University), published by Cambridge University Press. I am especially excited... 🧵1/2

The Herodian Temple Mount in Jerusalem was the largest sanctuary complex in the entire Greco-Roman world, with an area of 144,000 square meters. The second largest was the Jupiter Sanctuary in Damascus, with an area of 122,000 square meters. “There is an enormous gap... 🧵1/6

Today, the British Museum announced that the event “Ancient Israel and Judah in the British Museum” had been postponed due to security concerns. The event was planned as part of Jewish Culture Month. “In recent days, we were informed... 🧵1/5

New open-access article on hiding complexes from the Roman and Early Byzantine periods in Jewish Galilee. By Yinon Shivtiel et al. The complexes appear to have been in use not only during the Great Revolt (66–70 CE)... 🧵1/2

In honor of Shavu‘ot, which begins this evening, I will share a joke that I always use with my students to get across how halakhic reasoning works. 🧵1/5

𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗸𝗵𝗮𝗵 𝗹𝗲-𝗠𝗼𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶-𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗶 —𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟭— In recent years, I’ve been working pretty intensively on the problem of halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai. With colleagues in the laboratory. Under a microscope and using various spectroscopic analyses. 🧵1/7

There is now a 50% off sale on many Yale University Press books, including my 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙅𝙪𝙙𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙢. The paperback now sells for $14! Sale applies only in the USA and Canada. Only until the end of May. Mothers' Day is coming up, and Fathers' Day soon after! Link to order in the first comment:

“Stitching in the Tefillin Cases from the Judean Desert: Material Analyses and Ritual Ramifications” Just published and available for FREE as an Open Access article on Dead Sea Discoveries. Co-authored with my brilliant colleagues, Drs. T. Emmerich Kamper, I. Cohen-Ofri, and N. Sukenik. 🧵1/3

FREE NEW BOOK My colleague, Dafna Langgut from Tel Aviv University, has just published a new monograph with Cambridge University Press in the same series I had recently published my 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘠𝘢𝘩𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘮. Her volume is entitled: 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵, 1300–300 𝘉𝘊𝘌. 1/2

The paradigm is shifting. Prof. Bart D. Ehrman (UNC Chapel Hill) interviewing Prof. John J. Collins (Yale University) on the origins of Judaism.

An independent Jewish state under Hasmonean rule lasted for a continuous period of 77 years. According to 1 Macc 14:44–45, Simon Thassi the Hasmonean was confirmed as the Jews' political, military, and religious leader on the 18th of Elul in 140 BCE. 🧵1/2

The Pentateuch contains no freestanding prescriptive laws. Without exception, all the legal material is couched within narrative frames. Usually, these narrative frames involve God speaking to Moses (sometimes together with Aaron) and instructing him to convey commands to the Israelites. 🧵1/2

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 This week’s Torah reading contains the highest concentration of ritual purity rules in the entire Pentateuch. Almost none of these are kept anymore. 1/6

Julius Wellhausen claimed that the Judean community at Elephantine was a “fossilized remnant of unreformed Judaism.” To his mind, most Judeans had adopted the Torah as authoritative law by the late 5th century BCE; since the Elephantine community had not done so, it represents an aberration. 🧵1/4

This is the only depiction of Jesus wearing tefillin that I know about. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘠𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘊𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘪𝘰𝘯, Marc Chagall, 1943. Oil on canvas.

The National Socialist fascination with the scientific study of Judaism has left lasting effects on scholarship. My own path has often crossed with that of the SA-uniform-wearing Karl Georg Kuhn (י"ש). 🧵1/3